Unexpected Places
by justareader13
Summary: Mithian attends Arthur and Guinevere's wedding and coronation celebrations and while she's there, she connects with a certain manservant. Merthian w/ Arwen


**I DISCLAIM EVERYTHING**

_Why did I agree to this?_ She questioned herself as she watched them stand off to the side completely engrossed in each other like no one else was in the room.

She was attending the coronation feast of Queen Guinevere. The wedding was two days prior and Mithian had stood there with all the grace of the princess she was while her ex-fiancé married another woman, while he stared at her with all the love Mithian longed for, while he gazed upon her as if she were the only woman in the world. Mithian had taken it upon herself to attend the proceedings in Camelot as Nemeth was now an ally and her parents wanted to support Camelot in the joyous celebrations to cement the fact that there was no animosity between the kingdoms despite the failed sacred union between them.

Outside, Mithian was the picture of polite congratulations and poise but inside she felt almost... cold. She longed for someone to look at her the way Arthur looked at Guinevere. The man didn't necessarily have to be Arthur and Mithian acknowledged that even if they married he would never look at her like that, he would always long for another, he would always love another, he'd look right through her trying to see Guinevere beyond her and that would've hurt all the more. She had wanted to hate Arthur's wife, no matter how petty it sounded.

She wanted to delude herself into thinking that the cinnamon toned woman was high maintenance and air headed, that she was graceless and bratty and spoiled and lacked the makings of a queen in order to quell her hurt but then the woman spoke to her. She apologized for Arthur calling off the engagement, said she wished to cause Mithian no grievance, that she would do all she could to make the Princess's stay in Camelot as painless and comfortable as possible. She had ended the exchange by telling Mithian that she hoped she found the love she deserved and that she might find it in the most unexpected places, told her not to count herself out and that she was sure one day someone would love her for what was inside of her as well as out. Then Mithian had felt awful and guilty for her childishness.

Queen Guinevere wasn't at all like Mithian wanted her to be. She was a lot more relaxed than the other queens that the brunette had met before but she still had a regal poise about her, a graceful air wafted around her, kindness and wisdom and compassion seemed to emanate from the short woman and she was beautiful in a completely nontraditional way that just seemed to add to her overall appeal. She and Arthur looked good together, the princess thought a little glumly as she sipped her wine while standing at the opposite end of the banquet hall across from the king and queen.

"Doesn't she look gorgeous?" She heard Merlin gush beside her. She looked over at the servant who stood next to her in clothing a bit finer than his station. The new queen wanted him as a guest for both the wedding and coronation celebrations and the king didn't exactly protest. Mithian found it peculiar but Merlin looked good in silk she admitted to herself.

"She certainly does." She answered almost absent mindedly.

"This is her? The blacksmith's daughter Arthur told me of?" She asked. She suspected as much but it would be rude and forward to assume so if she wasn't. She felt she could trust Merlin to tell her without taking offense.

"Mm-hmm. Gwen. Queen Guinevere now." He said with an almost fatherly pride in his voice.

"You two are close?" Mithian asked politely.

"Gwen was my first friend when I arrived in Camelot. It was my first day and Arthur and I got into a bit of a tiff. I ended up locked away in the dungeon cells and then the stocks being pelted by rotten fruit just hours after arriving into town." Mithian smiled a bit, she could easily picture it.

"Then walks over this girl who tells me how I wouldn't have stood a chance against Arthur but I was brave for trying nonetheless. What was it she said? 'Arthur's one of those rough, tough, save the world kind of men. And you? Well, you don't look like that.'" Mithian smiled a little bit wider picturing that exchange.

"But like you said, you were in disguise." They heard Guinevere say behind them. They turned to see her almost gliding over to them in her purple and white dress with gold embroidery, the crown which once sat upon Queen Ygraine and Morgana's heads now looked quite comfortable among her curls. It looked like it was made for her. It was, in Merlin's opinion.

"Gwen!" Merlin exclaimed happily before kissing her forehead. She giggled a little and Mithian couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. The woman before her was surrounded by love of all kinds while the princess yearned for the love forged through friendship and through love. Gwen turned a smile to Mithian and the princess felt a bit of warmth in her heart from it, the queen was radiant.

"I do hope you're enjoying the feast, Mithian."

"It is quite spectacular, Milady."

"Please, call me Gwen. I fear I'll be hearing 'milady' much more than I've ever cared to in the near future. So much so I might find myself forgetting my own name."

"Don't worry Gwen, I've got you." Merlin reassured. Mithian watched Gwen beam at Merlin while patting his cheek affectionately.

"I know you do, old friend. I did, however, come over here for a reason. Have you seen Gwaine? Arthur's been trying his best to keep me out of his clutches but he's stuck talking to Lord Walder now and you know how long that'll last. I may as well take advantage of his distraction now." Merlin smirked a bit at that, Lord Walder was a very chatty fellow and that was coming from Merlin. The warlock pointed Gwaine out to Gwen, the three could see him standing surrounded by five Ladies who were gushing over how brave and strong he was to survive Morgana's captivity and the bearded knight was lapping all the praise and attention up. Gwen shook her a bit indulgently muttering about how Gwaine would be the death of her as she marched over to him. She pulled him by his ear away from the Ladies, ignoring his protests and the noble women's glares of disdain and disgust. Some didn't agree with her being Queen. Mithian watched the knight's face light up with a warm smile as he and Gwen danced despite the fact that the curly haired woman was obviously chastising him. The man, Sir Gwaine she believed, leaned in quickly and kissed Gwen on the cheek effectively ended her lecture as she couldn't contain her giggles as his beard brushed and tickled her cheek. Mithian could see Arthur glare at the sight.

"Is something going on between the Queen and Sir Gwaine?" Mithian blurted it out and immediately regretted it as Merlin began choking on his wine. Mithian patted his back comfortingly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes... I mean no... I mean there's absolutely nothing going on between Gwen and Gwaine. The lot of us that's close to Gwen, the round table, we think of her as a sister and a friend. That's all."

"And there's nothing between you and her?" Mithian felt compelled to ask, she hoped the answer was no.

"Absolutely not! I mean, I think Gwen had a crush on me when we first met. She even kissed me - don't tell Arthur that by the way he'd kill me - but anyway when she finally noticed Arthur wasn't as exceedingly prattish as he used to be and he finally realized her worth and beauty despite her title, that was it. Over the years Gwen has been my best friend, my ally, my partner in crime, my sister but that's as far as it went. Why do you ask?"

"You just all seem quite close."

"We've all been through a lot together. We've lost some things along the way and gained others but we've always had each other in the end, or what was left of us." Merlin had a bit of a haunted look now. Mithian regretted asking him but Merlin then looked up and smiled at the sight of Arthur thumping Gwaine on the back of the head as he leaned in to bestow another kiss to Gwen's cheek. Gwen shook her head before getting up on her tiptoes to give Gwaine a kiss on the cheek and then turning to kiss Arthur's lips. Arthur kissed Gwen's hand before twirling her to the center of the dance floor, her lavender dress catching air as he did.

"But crisis and chaos has a way of bringing together those that were meant to be together." He finished as he watched his best friends sway to the music whilst gazing into each other's eyes. Their crowns glowed almost orange under the candlelight, their eyes illuminated almost as if they had magic.

_But they do_, he said to himself.

_Their love is a magical entity all on its own._

"There is a lot of love there." Mithian commented feeling tears she didn't want to come to her enter her eyes as she watched the happy couple.

"There certainly is that."

"Makes me wonder why they ever parted."

"Even the truest love is put to the test; it's how you answer that test that determines whether your love is really true or not. It is how you weather the storm that matters most." Mithian stared at Merlin as if trying to decipher him. He could be almost childlike in his joy one moment and as serious as death the next. He could prove himself wise and sage one moment and completely clumsy another as he just proved by bumping into a knight and lady who were dancing and then ending up sprawled across the floor with the wine from his goblet strewn across his light blue shirt. Mithian worriedly rushed over to him and knelt by him.

No one else did.

Merlin's clumsiness was nothing new; Arthur rolled his eyes at it while Gwen shook her head fondly but left Mithian to tend to him. Merlin had been quite excited that Mithian was coming to Camelot. Gwen thought he might have a bit of a crush on the woman so she left them to it. Mithian helped Merlin stand and ushered him from the room as she noticed wine staining his dress shirt. She hustled him towards the kitchen where the maids tsked immediately upon seeing the shirt. They promptly took it off him to soak lest the stain set. That's how Mithian ended up sitting next a fidgety, shirtless Merlin in the empty physician's quarters. The old man was at the feast too.

"You don't have to stay you know." He said to her for probably the third time.

"I want to." She replied again.

"You might be missed."

"I doubt it. I've only really spoken to you and Queen Guinevere during my time here and she's preoccupied with her husband. I'd rather stay here than stand awkwardly at the sidelines."

"Why did you do that anyway?"

"I..." Mithian shook her head and looked down a little.

"I wanted to hate her, you know." Merlin looked a little confused at that.

"I wanted to think she was a horrible woman who was completely all beauty and no brains or heart. I wanted to think that..."

"That you were than her. Better for Arthur than her."

"But the woman's a saint and she's gorgeous and everyone loves her. She's wise and kind and shrewd and good. She's so tentative and compassionate, even to me when she doesn't have to be."

"I think she feels guilty that Arthur cast you aside the way he did over a mere reminder of her. She knows the pain of rejection; she didn't want you to face that alone. It's why Arthur keeps apologizing to you actually, Gwen is making him... and I owe you an apology."

"Merlin, its fine-"

"No, it's not." She made no mention of how improper it was for a servant to cut her off and merely listened.

"I treated you unworthily because I was upset at Arthur and I missed Gwen. I acted childishly and I'm sorry."

"I acted childishly tonight Merlin: asking you all those questions about whether the queen had extramarital affairs with you and Sir Gwaine, it was unworthy of a princess and extremely crude of me. The truth of it is despite being born a servant Guinevere was meant to be Camelot's queen, Arthur's queen. I just... I wonder whose I'm meant to be." Merlin looks upon her sympathetically before he suddenly remembered something. Mithian watched him stand up and scurry to his room. He comes back with a shirt on and a wrapped cloth in his hands which he hands to her with red ears.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

"Well... while I was buying Gwen and Arthur's wedding gift I saw it and thought it would favor you well." Mithian looked a little surprised at that before opening the cloth to see a beautiful necklace. It was a silver rope with a blue jewel in the shape of a tear drop hanging off it and about 10 little diamonds surrounding the cerulean jewel.

"Merlin, it's beautiful. You shouldn't have. It must have been costly for you."

"It was worth it, especially since I'd pretty much bought Arthur and Gwen's present months ago, just added a bit of embroidery to it."

"What is it?"

"Oh just a few tapestries for their rooms but I got Gwen some dresses fit for a Queen because it's really her special day. It's more about her than Arthur, isn't it? She's more important today." Mithian laughed at Merlin's bluntness before handing him the necklace to fasten around her neck. She turned and kissed him on the cheek causing him to blush furiously.

"Thank you, it truly means a lot to me." He ducked his head a bit nervously whilst nodding. Merlin looked up and was suddenly trapped in Mithian's eyes. The soft brown orbs were hypnotizing in a way they really shouldn't be. She was beautiful, no doubt about that, and completely above him even if he were a prince and yet even without the outward beauty Merlin recognized her as a girl who just wanted to be loved for her, Merlin was very much so in the same boat. He wanted to be loved, magic and all.

A part of him was pushing him to close the space between him and the princess and claim her lips with his own. They weren't impossible; Arthur and Gwen were together so he knew it wasn't impossible. He could picture them: him telling her of her magic and her helping him, being a home and safe haven when destiny beat down on him. He could see himself loving her the way she deserved and longed for. He could see her meeting her end at Morgana's hand because of their relationship.

That thought gave Merlin pause but he didn't realize he had been leaning in a bit and Mithian was waiting for him to proceed on baited breath. Their lips brushed lightly against each other with each breath as the two now stood at an impasse wondering who would make the next move. Ultimately it was Mithian who could take it no longer and leaned in to press her lips lightly to his. When he stayed frozen, neither consenting nor protesting, she kissed him once again. This time she felt the slightest of pressure return to her, so light it was almost surreal. She kissed him again to see if the previous reciprocation was real.

It was.

Merlin's hand caressed her cheek as he returned the simple kiss. Mithian placed her hands at his neck pulling him in more as the kisses became firmer and more real and broke through that barrier that made it surreal and dreamlike.

"Princess..." He sighed against her lips as they delved back into the kiss. Merlin's tongue of its own accord teased at the princess's mouth and she granted him entrance as her tongue met his. They didn't battle for dominance; they were content with the balance between them. Merlin felt the back of his legs hit the wooden table, he maneuvered them blindly around it and soon his back pressed against the wall next to the bookshelf. He knew it was probably comical from a third person's perspective: him pressed up against the wall by the princess who was at most a head shorter than him, Arthur would probably say he looked like such a girl but he didn't care in that moment. All he cared for was the woman in front of him.

**Reviews are always encouraged. **


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